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Falling Leaves (album) (History of Margovya)
|genre=Alternative rock, post-grunge, pop punk, nu metal |length=66:26 |label= , |producer= , |lastalbum='' '' (2003) |currentalbum='' '' (2005) |nextalbum=''The Russian Album'' (2009) }} Falling Leaves is the fourth studio album by Margovyan rock band , released on 27 July 2005 through Tidzhomov Records. The album was produced by Denis Tidzhomov and Not So Socialist. Falling Leaves was Not So Socialist's follow-up album to and features a shift in the band's musical direction. For the group, the album marks their return to the alternative rock and post-grunge style they started with before their experimentation with heavy metal and industrial metal in the previous album. Not So Socialist started working on the album immediately after the release of 2'' in 2003, taking a break to tour in support of ''2 between 2003 and 2004. During this time period, the band members became involved in other projects; got back with his boy band side project while , , and all worked on their movie and TV careers, necessitating the long development process for the album as the band could only get together to work on it for so many days. Eventually the band was able to fully focus on developing the album, and by December 2004 Kumilyova claimed to have finished their final recording session for the album. "Hold On" was chosen as the album's lead single in June 2005, with the album seeing release in Margovya on July 27, 2005 and the rest of South America three days later. The album debuted at number three on the Margovyan Top 100, eventually claiming top spot after three weeks. It also reached number one in Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and was in the top five of all other South American nations. In Margovya, it had the biggest first week sales of 2005 at 607,000 albums sold, going on to become diamond-certified in Margovya. It was also certified fivefold platinum in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia, double platinum in Chile, Ecuador, and Venezuela, and platinum in the rest of South America. Falling Leaves has also met positive reviews from critics. The album has sold more than five million copies in Margovya and fifteen million copies worldwide. Oomph! magazine named it the second most influential Margovyan album of the 2000s, just losing out to by . History After the mixed critical response to their album , the band decided that it was time to "return to their roots", as Tanya Kalinina stated in an interview with Ilya Kasharov on Radio de Celebridades. The four members had felt uncomfortable with how some of the songs on 2'' had turned out with regards to their promotion, most notably the simulation of the sex act using carrots at the end of live performances of "I Love You, Bitch!" in imitation of the last part of the song's music video. This performance almost led to the band's arrest when it was performed in the province of Sta. Agnessa, one of the most socially conservative provinces in the country and resulted in the song being dropped in their subsequent set lists. In the same interview, Gavrina Kumilyova added, "Yes, we enjoyed the experimentation but even then, some of the things were getting a little too much for us. This style isn't what got us on the Margovyan music scene so we want to go back to our original style. We're all agreed that it's the best way to go forward." Like they did with their previous album ''2, the band built up anticipation for the new album first by placing a prominent countdown clock to the release date of Falling Leaves on their official website along with one-minute samples of the first four tracks. The band then teased more information about the album in the months leading up to launch through interviews and posts on the official website before culminating in a live performance of "Hold On" at the Amanda Viktoriyovskaya Theater on the eve of the first single release. Recording The album was recorded at the Unbelievable, Jeff! Studios in Remontadov, Viktoriyovskaya, Margovya and produced by Denis Tidzhomov and Not So Socialist. The band recorded almost 30 songs for the album, with only 16 making the final cut. Their previous albums had taken between four and seven months to complete but Falling Leaves took almost two years because of scheduling conflicts between the band members due to their decisions to focus on their individual careers. Kumilyova plays the drums in "Lean On Me" and "Rain", as well as their covers of " " and " " by and respectively as regular drummer Arigov sings the lead vocals on the aforementioned tracks. Yaroslav Anastasiuk serves as keyboardist for "Please Forgive Me", "Waiting for a Glimpse" and "Rain". Cover artwork The front and back covers were shot at the Remontadov People's Park in Remontadov, Viktoriyovskaya. The front cover depicts leaves falling to the ground framing both the title and the band name, while the back cover shows the band members standing side by side with leaves falling around them. Reception Critical response The album received generally positive reviews upon release. Svetlana Lanuva gave the album a rating of five out of five stars, saying "This is the sound that Not So Socialist fans have been yearning for all these years." She praised the band for returning to their roots after two albums' worth of experimentation, adding that "you can feel that their hearts are back in it this time around; all the emotions and feelings are out there and bared for all to see." Kirill Demyanenko of Oomph! magazine gave it four-and-a-half out of five and called it "an excellent and tasteful album" that was better than its predecessor 2'' (2003) but falls short against their first album ''The Debut (2001). Conrada Cortesova gave the album four stars out of five, praising the overall theme and tone but noting that "this band, after five years and four albums, is still trying to figure out just exactly what kind of band they are; but once they find that out I am sure that they will become one of the best artists of their generation." Some reviewers were critical of the band's shift back to an alternative sound. Timofey Marquez-Kuznetsov of Gazety, in giving the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, in particular condemned the shift. "Not So Socialist have shown that they can move out of their comfort zone with the industrial sounds of The Promiscuous Album and 2'', so to revert musically is very much a betrayal of the fans that they had gained through their past two albums." Pavel Mendikov of ''Novos Tonos was equally dismissive, giving the album only three out of five stars and panning the band's move back to the "safety of predictability" instead of continuing to expand upon their experimentation. Nevertheless, fans of the band were very much supportive of the band's return to an alternative style. Kumilyova commented on those critical of their shift, stating "We're not really writing these songs to please everyone. We know there are some out there who will like where we're going and some who won't, but the real important thing is that we're writing and singing for our fans and for ourselves. We're very happy with Falling Leaves, and if other people happen to be happy about it as well and that only makes us happier." Commercial performance Track listing All songs written and composed by Not So Socialist except when noted otherwise. Personnel ;Not So Socialist * – lead vocals (tracks 4, 8, 12 & 16), drums * – lead vocals (tracks 3, 7, 11 & 15), bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (track 16) * – lead vocals (tracks 1, 5, 9 & 13), lead guitar, backing vocals (track 16) * – lead vocals (tracks 2, 6, 10 & 14), rhythm guitar, drums, backing vocals (track 16) ;Production *Produced by Category:Margovya Category:History of Margovya Category:Music Category:Media (History of Margovya)